Hogwarts Marching Band
by HufflepuffCub999
Summary: When two Muggle-born, band geek, twin sisters enter Hogwarts in two different houses and find out there is no marching band, the girls freak out and decided to start a marching band competition themselves. In the marching band showoff, who will win, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff or Slytherin and Ravenclaw?
1. To be Late is to be Left

**Authors note: This is my first ever fanfic. Please review. I'm really enjoying writing it. It does start out a little slow but I promise that it does get better. ~Hufflepuffcub999~**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Hogwarts.**

"Amy!" I called to my twin sister. "Hurry up! We're going to be late! Besides, Dad's waiting in the car. And you know the saying."

"I know. I know. To be early is to be on time. To be on time is to be late. To be late is to be left." Amy said coming out of the bathroom. "I'm ready now." she added grabbing her bag from the table.

Amy and myself, Isabella(though I prefer to be called Izzy), were heading off to marching band practice. We were too young to be a part of the band but our parents were the directors. Our dad was the high school director and our mom was the middle school director. Amy and I ended up going to everything though just because we were raised as band geeks. Neither of us could wait until we were freshmen and could actually march, not just sit on the sidelines as part of the prop crew.

"There you girls are," Dad greeted us as we climbed into the car. "I was beginning to think that you'd drowned in the toilet or something."

"Nope," Amy said. "Just me being a little slow."

"Figures."

Amy grinned at me. Then she sat back to enjoy the three minute ride to the high school. Dad pulled into the parking lot and we hopped out and headed inside to the office. Dad barely had time to throw his stuff on the desk before he had to be out there to greet the band. All this weekend, he'd fretted about some changes to the show and now he would finally be able to see if they would actually work. So, he gave his instructions and then the band made their way out to the parking lot where our practice field was painted on.

"Come on Izzy," Amy said to me. "Let's get up top before Mom and Dad."

I nodded and followed her outside. Amy and I got prime location to watch the show. Up in the top of the stadium facing the parking lot, not the football field. It was the best spot to watch the band from. You could see everyone and it looked really cool.

We did beat Mom and Dad up there but it wasn't too hard to do that. They normally had to wait in the band room for a little bit before they could join us up at the top anyways.

Practice soon got underway. About halfway through, Amy and I got tired of standing and headed down to the bottom of the bleachers to laugh at how stupid the football guys, who were also practicing, looked. We always agreed on how stupid they looked. Just because it was so funny and they looked ridiculous. However, today, we'd only been sitting down there for a while when an owl flew up and freaked us both out. We started screaming because it flew up right next to us. Up top, Dad and Mom turned around and looked at us.

"You girls okay?" Mom cried.

"Yeah," Amy cried back now that we were starting to calm down.

We looked at the owl. It was a simple barn owl but it also had a letter attached to its leg. Amy shrugged at me and then reached over and pulled the letter off. As soon as the letter was gone, the owl took off again.

"You wanna open it?" She asked me.

"Who's it addressed to?"

"Amy and Isabella May," Amy read off the front of the envelope.

"Okay then," I said. "Why on earth would an owl be delivering mail?"

"No idea. Open it and maybe we'll find out."

"Okay," I said. I took the letter from her and slit it open. It was printed on very, very thick parchment. Taking the letter out, I read it out loud to us.

"Dear Miss May and Miss May,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.  
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall  
Deputy Headmistress"

"What?" Amy gasped pulling the letter out of my hands.

"That's what it says," I told her. "I'm not making anything up."

"I know," Amy said skimming the letter. "It's just so unreal. What do you bet that this is another band prank?"

"I don't know. I mean, no one in the band would be able to get an owl that was trained to fly over to us. At least I'm pretty sure that they couldn't. This might be real Amy."

"Maybe. Let's talk to Mom and Dad about it tonight."

I nodded. "Okay. Sounds good to me."

That night, Amy and I started talking to Mom and Dad about what was going on with the letter. They were very interested in it. They also agreed with me, no band student would be able to send a letter by owl. About halfway through out discussion, there was a knock on the door. Mom went to get it and returned a few seconds later with a man who was probably only three feet tall.

"Good-evening," he greeted us. "My name is Filius Flitwick. I am a teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I have come to talk to your girls about them coming to our school."

"This isn't a joke or anything right?" Amy asked.

"No Miss May. This is entirely true. Hogwarts is a school for people with magical talent and you two have been offered a position at the school."

Amy and I shared a delighted look.

"Why don't we all head into the living room and talk?" Dad suggested. We all did as he said and soon we were all sitting in the living room, Mom, Dad, and Filius Flitwick on chairs and Amy and I on the floor.

In the living room, Professor Flitwick, as he told us to call him, began to explain all about Hogwarts. How we'd learn about spell, charms, potions, and plants among other stuff. We'd live in dorms with some other people in our grade. Hogwarts was a seven year boarding school. It was as he continued talking that Amy and I became positive that he wasn't making this up. There was no way anyone could come up with a lie that big and stick to it. Absolutely no way. Mom and Dad were basically leading the conversation, asking tons of questions like they always did.

We probably talked for over two hours just going over the basics of Hogwarts however, it was right after he left and Amy and I were getting ready for bed that I turned to Amy and went "We forgot to ask about their marching band!"

Amy gasped as well. "How could we forget? We never forget stuff like that!"

"Something must be wrong with us today."

"Agreed…" Amy said. "Night Izzy."

"Night Amy. See you in the morning."


	2. The Sorting

On September first, Amy and I walked into Kings Cross station. We had no clue what to expect at the moment. Amy was beginning to think that this was all a joke again when she saw that our ticket was for platform nine and three quarters. But Mum and Dad still believed in it so I sided with them. Besides, it wasn't like I had anything to lose.

"Izzy!" Mum called back at me. "Quit your daydreaming. You're falling behind and in this crowd, I don't want to lose you. It's not like at competitions when we're among band people. This place has people who aren't nice here."

"I know. Sorry Mum," I said hurrying to catch up to her. Mum and Dad led us straight to the area between platform nine and platform ten.

"Now girls," Dad started. "What you have to do is run straight at the wall."

Amy and I stared at him. Running straight at the wall seemed more like a suicide mission than anything else. Definitely not a way to get to school.

"Trust me girls. I do know what I'm doing."

"You sure you do?" Amy asked uncertainly.

Dad nodded. I sighed and took a step towards the wall. Dad looked at me encouragingly and so I took off running. I closed my eyes and only opened them when I was sure that I'd gotten past the wall. And I had. In front of me was a scarlet red steam engine. It looked quite beautiful. Very different from the trains my family would often see.

A few moments later, Amy, Mum, and Dad had joined me on the platform.

"How'd you know that?" Amy asked Dad.

Dad glanced at Mum and then took a breath and said, "I have a sister who's a witch. She never comes around our place so I don't think you girls ever met her but I used to come with her to take her to school. So I kinda learned a little bit about the magical world through her. I'll try and contact her sometime so you girls can meet her."

"We have an aunt we didn't know about?" I asked.

"Who's a witch?" Amy added on.

Dad and Mum nodded. "Yes," Dad said. "She didn't want me to tell you girls about her. Just because she didn't want to be a part of the Muggle world."

"Well that's a bit unfair," Amy said.

"I know girls. I know." Dad said. "Now, let's find you a seat on the train."

"Okay," I said grabbing my stuff and then hurrying to the train to find a compartment.

The trip to Hogwarts was long. Amy and I sat with a couple other girls, Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott. When it was nearing night time though, we got off the train and followed a giant man over to some boats. It was from those boats that we had to paddle crossed the lake in, that we could see the castle. It was gorgeous. The prettiest sight I had seen. It was even better than the castle at Disney, and I saw that castle a lot for band trips.

Soon, we were ushered out of the boats and into the castle. All of the first years were standing in a room close to the entrance hall. I kind of tuned everyone out when I was there. I was just so shocked that Amy and I were actually there. It was a great feeling I though. We would be trained witches soon. Band geek witches. I was sure that one was a new one.

"You may come in now," Professor McGonagall said. She had already introduced herself to us. She'd given us some more instructions on what we were supposed to be doing. Now was the moment when we would be sorted into houses.

Professor McGonagall led us into the Great Hall. Right down to the front. In front of us was a table that had to be for the teachers. Behind us, there were four tables, one for each house.

Professor McGonagall began calling names. Students were going in every direction to get to the house tables. All too soon, I heard my sister's name called.

"May, Amy," Professor McGonagall shouted.

Amy gave me a small smile. She looked very nervous and then made her way up to the stool where the hat was placed on her head. She was sitting there for a while. Quite a while actually. I could tell from what she was doing with her hands if she liked something or not. Sometimes, she would be clenching her hands on the side of the chair. Other times, she would be fiddling with her new robes.

Finally, the hat shouted "SLYTHERIN!"

I clapped along with the rest of the hall. I didn't know much about the houses but Amy was smart enough that she would be fine wherever she was placed.

"May, Isabella," Professor McGonagall called.

I made my way up to the stool. I sat down and the hat slid over my head and down my face.

"Hmm…" a voice said from inside the hat. "I suppose you and Miss Amy May are twins now aren't you? And I suppose that you will be just as difficult as she was. Both of you have loyalty, smarts, bravery, and ambition. Characteristics for all of the houses that sit in the hall before you. But which one do you belong among? I can see in your head that you are quite similar to your twin. But for some reason, I hesitate to put you in Slytherin just as she is. You might share similar qualities but there's something there that makes me hesitate. I believe we can rule out Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff for you. Those just are not houses for you. But, just like your sister, I must decide between Slytherin and Gryffindor. So which would it be? Bravery? Or ambition? Which do you belong?"

The hat sat in silence for a few moments. I just sat there biting my tongue and fingering nervously on the edge of the stool. I tried not to think of what the hat was deciding. I tried to instead remember the fingerings to 'Hard Rock Blues' that we'd played in fifth grade band last year. It was hard to not think about the hat though. Finally, after what seemed like a decade, it spoke again.

"I think I know what I want for you. If I am correct, and I hope that I am, it shall be GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted for the hall.

I stood up glad that the sorting was over. I started to make my way to the Gryffindor table before I remembered to glance at Amy. She gave me a small smile when she caught my eye. I knew that she'd want me to succeed in my house just like I wanted her to succeed in hers. But it would be hard for both of us. We'd never been separated like this before. The closest we'd come to total separation was with our instruments. She'd chosen trumpet and I'd chosen flute. The reason we'd never been apart was because no one liked it when we turned against each other. When we did, it became total chaos. The worst was when we were at band camp with Mum and Dad when we were eight. We'd taken sides for some competition thing that I couldn't even remember what it was about now. But we'd been turned completely against one another. It became so intense that Mum and Dad locked us in a cabin together until we got along again. So we ended up being stuck in a cabin for nearly eight hours.

I sat down next to a girl named Lavender Brown who had seemed really nice. She smiled at me as I sat down so I was pretty sure she'd be a good friend. Being the band geek I was though, I let my mind wonder to try and decide what instruments those sitting around me would play. I decided that Lavender would be a flute like I was. Unless she was in color guard which seemed more likely. Another boy who McGonagall had called Seamus Finnigan, I decided would be a trumpet. Mostly because he looked like he would be one of those people who would be loud, obnoxious, and proud of it. A girl who was called Hermione looked like a clarinet to me.

I was jerked from my daydreaming as Professor Dumbledore called for the school to be quiet. He gave some announcements and then let us eat. As we ate, I talked to Lavender and another girl named Parvati. Parvati was also in the same place I was being a twin who was separated. As we were talking though, I found myself thinking that these girls were definitely guard girls. I could see them in guard easily.

After the feast, I was too tired to do anything else but I did run to catch up to Amy before we both left the hall.

"Amy!" I called. "Tomorrow, we have to find out if there is a marching band. Or at least some sort of band. Okay?"

"Okay," Amy agreed. "Night Izzy."

"Night. See you in the morning."

**Authors notes: I know the first two chapters have been kinda boring but you have to set the stage a bit in the beginning. It will be better from here. I promise. Marching band will be starting real soon. :D**


	3. Marching Band? Pretty Please?

The next morning, I woke up and was confused as to where I was. Then I remembered. I was in the Gryffindor dorms. Just like Percy Weasley had showed us last night. As I remembered last night, I couldn't help but wonder about the band. I was quite anxious to know if there would be a band. For some reason, I had a sinking pit in my stomach that told me that there wouldn't be. And that worried me. I liked my marching band. I didn't wasn't there to not be a band. That would be the worst news a band geek like me could ever hear.

Quietly so I didn't wake the other girls who were still sleeping, I dressed and made my way down to the Great Hall. Luckily, I saw Amy sitting at the Slytherin table by herself. I made my way over to her.

"Amy!" I cried. "Come on. Let's go find out about…" my voice trailed off as I realized that Amy was crying. "What's wrong Ams?"

"They hate me. The other girls in Slytherin," Amy sobbed.

"Why?"

"Because I'm not like them. I'm not a pureblood. To them I'm what they call a Mudblood. I don't even know what that is! But they hate me! Izzy, I wanna go home. I don't like it here."

"Amy," I said softly. "It can't be that bad. Just give them a chance. They'll come around."

"No they won't! They were all raised to hate people who don't come from wizarding families. I'm so screwed Iz! Screwed I tell you! I just wanna go home." Amy laid her head on the table in front of her. She was crying hard and I didn't know what to do. Normally, when Amy got upset like this, it was Mum who would comfort her. Not me. So I just rubbed her back until Professor McGonagall spotted Amy crying and came over to us. She then led us out of the Great Hall since people were starting to stare at us.

"Miss May? Is there a problem?" Professor McGonagall asked. I thought it was a ridicules question. Of course something was wrong. Anyone could see that.

"I wanna go home."

"And why is that?"

"Because no one wants me here."

"Yes they do Amy. Why would you think that?"

"Because girls in my house hate me! And they told me so! Right to my face! They were just plain mean to me! I don't want to be there with them! And they don't want me here either! It would be best if I just went home."

"Amy," Professo McGonagall said kindly. "I think it would be better if you stayed here and trained to be a witch. If you aren't trained, then you could get in trouble with the Ministry of Magic."

"There's a Ministry of Magic?" I interrupted.

"Yes. And Amy, I think you'll be strong enough to deal with the other Slytherin girls. Trust me. You will be fine. I'm sure you'll be one of the smartest girls in your class as well."

Amy finally managed a smile. "Okay. I'll stay for now. But I do have one question."

"Yes?"

"Is there a marching band at Hogwarts?"

Professor McGonagall smiled. She obviously knew that our parents were both band directors. "I'm afraid not girls. But maybe you could talk to Professor Flitwick. He's in charge of music around here. Maybe you girls could convince him to start up a marching band or two."

Amy and I shared a delighted glance. We said thanks to Professor McGonagall and then we were off and running towards the Charms corridor. Luckily, we only got lost once. And when we got lost, we ran into Nearly Headless Nick who was nice enough to point us in the right direction.

"Professor Flitwick! Professor Flitwick!" Amy and I cried running into the room.

The short, little professor looked up from his desk. "Yes girls? Would you like something?"

His question almost made me roll my eyes just like McGonagall's early question had. Were all teachers so oblivious?

"We were wondering," Amy began.

"If we could start-"

"A marching band-"

"Here at Hogwarts-"

"Since you seem to be lacking-"

"In that area." I finished up.

Professor Flitwick just started at us girls. Slowly he took a deep breath. "Girls. Girls. Girls. I don't know what to say. In all my years of teaching, I have never been asked about a marching band. And I wouldn't know the first thing about a marhing band so how would you expect me to start one? I'm afraid that I'll have to say no to this one. I'm sorry."

"But Professor Flitwick," Amy and I said together. We quickly glanced at each other and then I continued. "Amy and I know all there is about marching band. Trust us. We could lead the marching band. We could even have our Mum and Dad help us when we have to. But we'll do everything. We'll come up with the music. We'll work out the guard. We'll even write the drill." (Beside me, Amy let out a small groan. She hated writing drill. That was more my forte.)

Professor Flitwick looked doubtful. "I don't know girls. It sounds like a lot of work. Way more than what a first year should be taking on."

Amd and looked at each other again. Time for the stratigy we used on Dad when we really wanted something. "Please?" We begged with wide eyes. "Pretty, pretty please with a cherry on top?" It really was hard to refuse us when we spoke in unison and acted cute. That was the most useful thing about having a twin. And it really worked to our advantage right now.

Flitwick looked like he didn't want to answer it. After a couple minutes though, we broke him. "Alright! Fine. You girl may create your marching band. But, let me just suggest that you have two marching bands. Maybe Gryffindor and Hufflepuff against Slytherin and Ravenclaw. Also, we can buy instruments if you would like. I'll talk to Albus about it. I'm sure he won't mind though. Professor Dumbledore really is a fan of the perfoming arts. He would like to have a marching band. I'll also have to talk to Minerva. Maybe she can help with the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff team. I'll help with Slytherin and Ravenclaw. And maybe it would be better to shorten the names to Gryffinpuff and Slytherclaw. Yes. I think we'll do that." It seemed that the longer Professor Flitwick muttered to himself, the more excited he got. Maybe they would get him really excited about this whole marching band thing as well.

As for me? Well, my brain was already running through show ideas. I knew that I would have to come up with something very creative. And somewhat simple since most people probably haven't touched an instrument yet. Well, maybe a few played piano but my guess was that most people would be starting from scratch. And maybe my brain classifying people to what instruments they would play might finally come in handy. I could already tell that if both Dean and Seamus played trumpet liked they looked like they were made for, we would have a rocking trumpet section soon. But the question was what would everyone else play? And how would it turn out.

As Amy and I left the Charms classroom so Professor Flitwick could go talk to Dumbledore, Amy turned to me. She was so bubbly that I had a hard time remembering the girl who'd wanted to leave this school not even an hour ago.

"This will be so much fun. And remember Izzy, may the best band win."

"Same to you. And good luck."

"I think we'll need more than luck to get through this. And everyone is going to think we're crazy."

"That's okay. Aren't all band directors crazy anyway? We're just getting a head start."

Amy laughed. So did I as we split to head for our first class of the school year.

**Authors note: Well, chapter three is done. What do you think? Marching band going to be interesting? If you have any ideas for what different characters should play, please tell me. I have some ideas but I'm not fully sure. I would greatly appreciate some other ideas. As always, please review. ~Hufflepuffcub999 :D**


	4. What is a Trumpet?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Potter and his friends though I wish I did… :(**

That night at supper, Professor Dumbledore told the whole school about the marching band idea. Amy and I shared delighted looks crossed the hall when we saw the enthusiasm that came from the students as Dumbledore talked. Then Dumbledore told the students that they could talk to me or Amy that night. Well, if the students were Gryffindor or Slytherin. The Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students would have to wait until the next night. Needless to say, that night, I was very popular in the common room. Before long, I had a list of about forty students wanting to be in the marching band.

I headed up to bed very excited. Half of the students, I'd half decided on what instrument they'd play the moment I set eyes on them. It was just a bad habit I'd gotten into. Amy was the same way. Though, my parents also were. It was funny when a person they think should play flute plays tuba or percussion or something like that. They normally spend the night discussing it then. Just because my family is odd like that.

The next morning, I woke up to an owl tapping my bedframe. I rolled over and sleepily took the note from it. I was more concerned about it shutting up than what the note said. I did look at the note. In tall, thin letters it said:

Dear Isabella,

All of the instruments are in a room off the Great Hall. You may have people test them out during breaks or meals. I'm sure I have no need to remind you to treat them nicely. I am telling your sister the same thing. Have fun with your marching band and good luck.

-Professor Dumbledore

I smiled happily and at that point, was too excited to fall back asleep. Who cared if it was my second day of classes? I got to have fun with music today. It'd be nice to have my flute back in my hands. I loved my nice little open holed flute Mum and Dad had given me for my eleventh birthday. It was much better than the school flute I'd been playing on before then.

Once again, I made my way to breakfast early. However, this time, I made a detour into the side room Dumbledore had mentioned in his letter. Once inside the room, my mouth dropped open. So many instruments. It could have been a music shop. I was in love with the room. Amy was too. She opened the door a few minutes after I did. I hadn't moved since I reached the room and Amy didn't either when she saw the place. We were both in shock.

"This place is amazing," Amy finally chocked out.

"Agreed."

"Today is going to be the best day ever."

"What else would it be?"

We glanced at each other. Then, it clicked in both of our brains that we really should go thank Professor Dumbledore. We both had barely had the thought before we were both out of the room and running towards the High Table. Reaching Professor Dumbledore, we stopped.

"Thank you so much," Amy and I chorused. "That room's amazing."

"Of course dears." Professor Dumbledore said.

Professor Flitwick, who'd been sitting next to Dumbledore talking to him, made a face. "Must you two always talk at the same time?" he asked. "It tends to get annoying after a while. At least for us teachers. I guess I should just be happy that I don't have you two in my class at the exact same time."

I grinned. "Just wait until you do. Our teachers have always hated us in class. We tend to be a little bit of torture students."

"I wonder why," Professor Flitwick said. "Now both of you better go sit down. We normally don't like students up this close to the High Table."

Amy and I both made a face but did as he told us too. At that moment, we probably would have bowed down to the teachers if they'd asked us to. It was just so exciting for us.

xxx

At break that day, I began to test people for their instruments. I started with the Gryffindor first years. First, I turned to Seamus and Dean. Those two didn't even get a choice in what they wanted to play. I handed each of them a trumpet.

"Here. Try this," I told them.

"What is this?" Seamus asked.

I stared at him in exasperation. "You don't know? How can you not know? It's a trumpet."

"What's a trumpet?"

"It's what Maynard Ferguson plays. Or one of the major instruments in Chase. Or the instrument that has one of the most epic parts in Mars by Holst."

Seamus just stared at me.

"Louie Armstrong's instrument." I tried.

Seamus continued to stare at me like I was crazy.

I sighed. For some reason, I was reminded of the joke: What do you call a trumpet player with half a brain? The answer? Gifted.

"Just blow into it. Buzz your lips and blow," I said showing him and Dean how to hold the instrument.

As soon as they did, I knew I was right. With a little bit of practice, the two boys would be pretty insane. Now that they were done though, I had to focus on more harder people. I decided to get one thing figured out quickly. I turned to the girls in my room.

"How many of you would rather just dance around with flags and look pretty?" I asked. We did need some color guard after all. And there was no point explaining the guard to the girls quite yet. Might as well just let them know a short definition at first. They'd soon realize that it was a lot more work than most of the rest of marching band.

"Me!" Lavender Brown called.

"And me!" Parvati agreed.

"Done," I said quickly before turning to Hermione. "Clarinet?" I asked her.

She nodded. "Yep. I started playing clarinet last year in fifth grade. Then I got my letter to come here and figured that there was no reason to continue it. So I have a clarinet sitting at home if you want me to get it."

"That would be great. And I'm glad at least one person will know how to play. I don't care how good you are at the moment. I'm just glad someone can play without me having to teach them everything. It's going to be hard as it is."

Hermione nodded sympathetically. "I feel bad for you. This will be tough."

"Oh well. I'll survive. Besides, it's good practice for when I'm a band director myself."

Hermione smiled as I turned to the other boys in the year. Ron, I decided to classify as a trombone do to the fact that he was already so tall. Plus, he had long arms so he'd be able to do fine as a trombone player. Neville had no idea what he wanted to be and I had no idea what he should be either. I ended up just putting him on saxophone. He sounded decent on it at least. My only problem was how well his marching would be. He seemed a bit accident prone. Then, I turned to Harry.

"So what do you want to play?" I asked him. He shrugged. I sighed. Then continued on. "What about trumpet?"

I handed him the trumpet. I was just glad that he didn't have to ask what a trumpet was like Dean and Seamus. He was okay on the instrument but to me, it just didn't fit him. It went the same way with tuba, clarinet, trombone, percussion, French horn, and flute. Nothing seemed to be right for him. After I gave up on him playing saxophone (which would have been good but Harry didn't like it), I decided to go with euphonium. I gave Harry this instrument and he sounded amazing on it. I was actually glad we hadn't stuck with saxophone. With a couple of lessons, he'd be an amazing and epic euphoniumist (or euphonium player. Whatever you call them).

The rest of the day seemed to go well. Harry was the only person who had to try every single instrument. I had three girls, Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, and Angelina Johnson, join me as flute players. A guy with dreadlocks named Lee Jordan became a tuba player. He seemed to fit the part fairly well. The Weasley twins became the next people for percussion. They were joined on the battery by Oliver Wood who I was surprised to see show talent away from the Quidditch pitch. So far, it seemed to be going fairly well. The next question was how well the Hufflepuffs would be and, beyond that, if they could march.

**Authors Note: Well, here's chapter four. Hope you all enjoy it. Next chapter we start with marching basics, also known as fundamentals. Yippie! Not really… Well, please review and hopefully you'll read the next chapter as well! **

**~Hufflepuffcub999~**


	5. Fundamentals

**Authors Note: For this, please pretend that a Quidditch field has yard lines identical to a football field. Otherwise this whole story won't work. **

I clapped my hands and looked at the group of people spread out in front of me. Somehow, over the past couple of days, Amy and I had divided and conquered the basic learning of music. We figured it would be simpler to have everyone learn as one instead of both of us having to teach everyone. So Amy took the brass and I took the woodwinds. The only problem with that arrangement was a small fight that broke out when the euphoniums were practicing. Apparently Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter didn't get along. At least they would be in separate bands and weren't in the same section after today. Today started the marching basics/fundamentals/fundi's. Although a couple people in the band back at home had started calling them fun-dies. I thought the name was fitting. But since I didn't have to go through fundi's myself, I didn't mind them. Or at least I wouldn't if teaching everyone to march wasn't so difficult…

"Okay everyone!" I shouted. "If you'd all line up in a block we'll go ahead and begin."

No one moved. They all just looked at me. I tilted my head in confusion thinking over what I just said. Then a realized it.

"A block. Basically, it is how we line up to march. See the red lines that Professor Dumbledore kindly helped me create this morning? Everyone who's on a yard line should be standing on one of those. If you aren't on a yard line, you should be standing directly in between the line directly behind a person who is standing on a little red line."

Percy Weasley, who'd I assigned to pit, raised his hand. I called on him. "You told me that I do not have to march because I'll be on the sidelines. Am I still supposed to be in the block?"

"You don't have to. I guess you can just come up here and sit and watch. For now. Once I get the show figured out, all of pit will be practicing music while we march."

Another hand went up. This time it was Lee Jordan. "What are the red lines for?"

I sighed. This people knew nothing. "The red lines mark four steps. They are there as references for when we start marching. Drill will be set up so you figure out what red line you are closest to and then you work with that. I'll get more into detail when we work with drill. But now, just line up on a yard line or halfway in between."

The band finally obeyed. I was starting to get worried. If they didn't like lining up correctly, what were they going to do with marching?

"Okay. We are going to start with a simple 8 to 5 step size. This means that you have eight steps to go five yards. Marching should be done with toes cranked. Don't bend your knees when you step off. When you finish or begin your steps, the back of your heel should be on the back of the yard line. That is a basic rule that I will yell at you for if you don't follow. I will be coming around and fixing you as we march. Now, let's start with 8 to 5," I finished. I hoped that would be an okay explanation to get them started even though I knew it was a pretty bad description. Oh well. With time, they'd figure it out. I grabbed the glock block, which was a red percussion block that was loud so the whole band could hear it when you hit it with the percussion sticks. The stick was the second thing I grabbed from my bag.

"Everyone! I forgot to explain marking time!" I cried. "Marking time is when you hit your heels but do not move. Feet should always be together on the back of the yard line. Remember that. On the command 'Mark Time Mark,' you should pick up your left heel on 'one'. It should be in the air on 'and' and then back on the ground on 'two' which is also when you lift your right foot. All marching basics will begin with the command 'Mark Time Mark' and so you mark time for four counts on 'hit hit hit hit' and then you step off. Got it?"

There were a couple of people muttering yeses. So, I started off with the glock block and let them march 8 to 5. And let me tell you, it was just plain awful. I don't even want to go into detail to explain it just because it was so terrifying. No one knew how big of steps they were actually supposed to take so some started out to big and some started out to small. That's normal for beginning but not at the extremeness that these guys were. I think Lee Jordan ended up doing a leap because his step sizes were too small. Mind you, it was pretty impressive since he was wearing his sousaphone at the moment.

"Guys! That was awful! Horrifying! Scary! Basically, you need a ton of work. And Neville, try not to fall over again and knock three people down with you," I said. There had been a small pile-up on the forty yard line because Neville had tripped. It might not be long before I switched Neville to pit. Even the awful marchers don't knock people over when they march.

As the day wore on, the marching did slowly improve. Lee didn't have to leap anymore. The Weasley twins were actually really good marchers. I was impressed. Harry and Katie Bell and Hermione were all pretty good too. So was a Hufflepuff named Cedric. Then, I got to introduce backwards marching. Something I was even more worried about. If Neville didn't get this, which I doubted he would since he was still knocking people over, he would be switched to pit. I didn't want to have to work around him in drill.

"Alrighty guys. Now, we have to learn backwards marching."

I got some funny stares at those words.

"Backwards marching?" Neville whispered in fear.

"Why can't we just turn around and face the back?" Someone else asked.

"What's wrong with forward marching?"

"Why must you torture us?"

I sighed. "Oh dear lord," I muttered. "Backwards marching is nothing to be afraid of. And you can't face backwards on a marching field because then your horn bell would be facing backwards as well and the judges wouldn't be able to hear the music as well." I probably sounded like they were dumb for not knowing that but I was starting to get fed up with questions I thought were obvious. "Backwards marching is done on the balls of the feet. You do not go back onto your heels at any point during backwards marching." Again, my explanation was probably awful but by now, the band was getting used to my awful explanations and could understand them. Or at least they somewhat could. The better marchers of the group could. And then they passed on the information to those who couldn't understand me.

Finally, after a four hour basics rehearsal, I sent them inside. Then I collapsed on the bench that I'd been standing on to see them all. It wasn't long before Amy came over to me.

"Hey Izzy," she greeted me. "I was watching from the window."

"So you know how awful some of them are."

"They aren't all awful though. You gotta look at it that way. Those two red headed boys were getting really good. So were two of the trumpet players. I think they were Dean and Seamus. I couldn't really tell though."

"Yeah. I'm hoping it all turns out okay. This is going to be so much work though. And we haven't even started working on drill yet."

Amy groaned. "Don't even mention drill. I still don't know what I wanna do for a show."

"It'll come to you."

"Yeah. Sure. In a dream or a nightmare. One or the other."

I giggled. "Well, I guess you'll just have to wait until tomorrow so you can figure out how your snakes and eagles march."

"Oh dear. I just hope they aren't awful. I really don't want them to be awful. Now I'm going to spend the whole night praying that they aren't awful. And then have nightmares about them being awful. Oh dear. Izzy, you wanna teach them basics tomorrow?"

"No! Never!" I cried.

Amy made a face. "Fine. Be that way. I better go in. Oh, and you might wanna do something about that boy that keeps falling. He can't march at all. He'd ruin your show."

"I know. He's going to pit. I plan on talking to him tonight."

"Good. See ya."

"Adios!"

**Okay, there you go. Marching basics. Soon, I'll start drill and stuff. Don't know when that'll be though because I've got a lot going on...Also, I need suggestions for shows. I have a few ideas but I wanna see what you guys think. So, if you have any ideas, please let me know! Or just review what you think of what I have so far. Thanks to those of you who have been reviewing! **

**~Hufflepuffcub999~**


	6. Music Rehearsal

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. :(**

I got the music for the show a week later. It was a simple show to start them on, _The Little Mermaid. _ Or at least, I hoped the show would be simple. We'd start out with _Under the Sea _and then go to the slow song and play _Part of your World_. We'd then end the show with the song _Kiss the Girl._ I was super excited. Ariel was always my favorite princess.

That night, I gathered everyone in a chamber big enough for the whole band. It was time to pass out music and start to learn it.

"Alright everyone. Welcome to our first music rehearsal. If you could all grab a stand and start in concert set that would be great. No chairs today. We can stand. Rehearsal is only a couple hours anyway."

No one moved. They just looked at each other and then back to me and then all around the room.

I paused. "Is something not clear?"

"Concert set?" Dean Thomas asked.

"Oh. Sorry. I guess I should probably explain that. My bad. Concert set is how you will be when you are playing not on the marching field. It's also how you sit for concert season. Flutes in the front arc. Then clarinets and saxophones in the second. Trumpets, mellos, trombones, and euphs in the third row. Tubas are stuck in the back. So are the percussion."

Now they began to move. It took nearly ten minutes for them to get all set up. Of course, it didn't help that not of them knew exactly where to stand beside what row they were in. They also didn't realize that they were supposed to be in arcs. It also didn't help that Neville was tripping over instruments left and right. I was so thankful that all I had to do was say "Repairo" and the clarinet, mellophone, and the two sousaphones he broke were all fixed. I don't even know how he managed to break the tubas. Tubas are normally pretty hard to break. At least when all you do is run into them.

"Okay." I said when they were all set. "Now, I am going to hand the music for the first song to the first person in the row. Please take your music and then pass the rest on."

I did that and luckily, it went fairly smoothly.

"Now what I want to do," I began to explain. "Is get through this whole piece today. That doesn't necessarily mean it's perfect but I want you to know how this goes and how your part fits in. Tomorrow, we'll start the second song if all goes well tonight."

Lee Jordan raised his hand. "How many songs are we playing?"

"Three. _Under the Sea, Part of Your World, _and _Kiss the Girl. _All songs from_ the Little Mermaid_. Any other questions?" When nobody moved, I opened my score to the first page. "Now, the first couple measures are all pit. Then the flute comes in. By the way, do any of you flutes wish to play piccolo?"

The flutes all looked at one another like they were silently communicating. Then Katie Bell raised her hand. "I can," she said.

"Great." I was happy that it was Katie Bell that volunteered to play pic. She was definatly one of the stronger flute players and we'd need someone who wouldn't be messing up on us. "There's a pic solo in the third song just so you know. I've got the pic part here," I said digging into the folder with all the parts. "I'll get you a piccolo tomorrow. For now, just play on flute. Sound good?"

Katie nodded.

"Great. Now, start at the first measure. Pit, it's all on you."

I raised my hands to start them. While I'd been working with the band on basics, Percy Weasley had taken the pit to get started on playing. I would show him what they needed to work on and get good at and then he would do that with them. So the pit was starting to get pretty good. Neville was still a bit of a problem though. He was having a hard time hitting the right notes at the right tempo. I was just hoping that we could either simplify his part or just not mic his marimba. One or the other or both. But with the rest of the pit being pretty good, the start of the show was fairly good. It needed work but for sight-reading, it wasn't bad. When the flutes came in though, things went downhill a bit. Katie Bell did good on the piccolo part but the rest of them needed a lot of work. Not really wanting to pause right then though, I kept going and let the clarinets come in. They didn't do so hot either. On the bright side though, the brass did great with their quarter notes and rests that they came in with. So that was a good thing.

Slowly, we made our way through the music. It was very slow work though. They band kept getting distracted. Fred and George Weasley set off a dungbomb at one point. We had to evacuate the chamber for a few minutes to let the room clear out. Then I got to scream at them for a bit. The flutes didn't know some fingerings when it got too high. Same with the clarinets. Unfortunately, I didn't know all the high clarinet fingerings. I ended up having to have Oliver Wood summon the clarinet fingering chart from Amy's Slytherin dormitory. Amy was a bit confused and followed it to our practice. Once she figured out it was me though, she left again. Dean and Seamus started to fool around halfway through the practice and tried playing their trumpet's sideways and upsidedown. I kept having to glare at them because they were disrupting the rest of the trumpets and some of the trombones too. Probably the worst thing though was when I had to teach the trombones to do a glissando. It was horrible. They became obsessed with them. During the break I gave after teaching them that, you couldn't go five seconds without one of them doing a gliss. It was starting to drive me crazy.

Finally though, the two hour rehearsal came to a close. "Well everyone," I said for a closing statement. "I guess that is that. Not bad for a first rehearsal. We did get through the whole first song which was what I wished for. Tomorrow, we will go onto _Part of Your World _so be prepared for that. Trombones, please no more glissandos outside of this room. I don't think that the rest of the school wants to hear that many glisses. Not unless you're playing _Seventy-Six Trombones_ do I want to hear a gliss outside of this room."

Fred and George Weasley exchanged a look.

"What's _Seventy-Six Trombones?_" They asked innocently.

"It's a song from the musical _The Music Man_. It's also a very catchy tune that get's stuck in your head easily. Believe me. My dad loves to sing it. And then the whole band starts singing it and no one can get it out of their heads."

Fred and George looked at each other again and sighed. I didn't care if that wasn't quite the answer they wanted though. It was the answer they were getting.

"Same time tomorrow. See you all then." I ended. Then with a wave of my hand, I let them all go to pack up their instruments.

I gathered my stuff pretty quickly and then headed over to Hermione who was putting her clarinet away.

"Why did you have to mention that song?" Hermione asked. "That song gets on my nerves. My parents love watching musicals and _The Music Man_ is one of their favorites. So I know all the lyrics to that song."

I grinned. "Seventy-Six trombones led the big parade. With a hundred and ten cornets close at hand."

"No! Stop!" Hermione cried pretending to cover her hands.

I giggled. "Come on. Let's head up to the dorms. The sooner we can get away from the trombones the better."

Hermione agreed and we made our way from the loud and noisy chamber that still held all the trombones trying to see who could glissando the loudest to the nice, quiet dormitory for the night.

**Authors Note: Well, there you go. Now you know the show. The Little Mermaid. I couldn't resist. I love the music from Disney. :D Also, sorry I haven't updated in forever. I was on vacation and then I went to camp. That kinda took up a whole month of my life and then when I got back, I'd forgotten my plans and so I had to figure everything out again. So yeah…Please review! I like feedback!**

**Thanks to winterwinds1234 and the anonymous guest that reviewed. :D**

**~Hufflepuffcub999~**


	7. The Chaos of Highlighters

**I am going to dedicate this chapter to winterwinds1234 because she has kindly reviewed every chapter since chapter three when she started reading. So thank you! :D **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. **

It took me two weeks to get the music up to the level that I wanted them to play. A fact that I was proud of since most of them only picked up their instruments a month ago. However, with the music learned and everyone doing pretty good on the basics, it was time for drill. I was scared for this. I still had yet to explain the concept of drill to everyone. So, I was hoping that they would all pick up on everything quickly. And once they picked up on the drill, they still had to memorize their music. Another fact that I had yet to tell them. Tonight though, instead of a rehearsal, we were just having a meeting. A meeting where I got to explain how the rest of the season was going to work.

Slowly, everyone in the Gryffinpuff band made their way into the room we'd made the band room. Once they were all sitting down, I called them all to be quiet and pay attention.

"You all know your music by now," I began. "However, that is only half the battle. The next part is adding the drill to the music."

"Drill?" I heard a flute in the front row ask. I didn't quite catch who it was though.

"Yes. Drill. Drill is all the formations that a marching band makes. You are each going to get a packet tonight with all your drill. You will carry that drill with you at all times. You have some options as to how you want to carry it but you'd better have it with you or I will be pissed. And please try not to ruin the drill. It takes a lot to copy it. Especially since each song has over sixty pages of drill."

"Why are there so many pages?" Harry asked.

"Because there are a lot of different movements. Each set is normally about four measures long. So once you put that all together, you get a lot of pages."

"Oh."

"Now, I'm gonna go ahead and hand out the drill. Each one of you has a drill number which I will be reading out for you in just a moment. And I also want everybody to take a highlighter from the box that I'm gonna pass around as well."

"What's a highlighter?" Cedric Diggory of Hufflepuff asked.

I turned and stared. "You don't know what a highlighter is?" I asked completely shocked.

He shook his head.

"Are you serious? Wizards don't have highlighters?"

Cedric shook his head a second time.

I just stood there in shock. I probably looked stupid but I didn't exactly care at the moment. Highlighters were huge in my family. If there were not fifty highlighters lying on the kitchen counter, Mom and Dad would be going out to buy new highlighters. My family depended on highlighters to keep us all in line. For everything from marching band to dentist appointments to whatever else was going on that needed to be remembered or completed. So wizards not having highlighters was the biggest shock that I could ever have.

"Hey Izzy?" someone said jerking me back to myself.

"Sorry," I apologized quickly. "My bad. Everyone take a highlighter from the box that is being passed around. I'm gonna hand out drill at the same time."

As the box of highlighters got passed around, I handed out the drill for the first song. Then for the second. And finally, for the third. Every person in the room was flipping through the drill but had an expression on their face that read 'what the heck did I get myself into? And what on earth is this? How in Merlin's name are we supposed to march like this when this is just letters and little numbers?'

"Okay everyone," I said. "Each letter represents a different section. Each individual letter and number represents a person. For example F3 would be flute three. Whoever is assigned that drill number will be going to the spot for F3 on every single drill set. Once I give you your drill number today, you will never change drill numbers for the rest of the year. Understand?"

I got a few nods from some people and a few blank looks from everybody else.

"Once you get started actually marching the drill, it will make a lot more sense. Trust me. It's confusing until you start marching. Then, about five sets in, you'll realize how easy this actually is and be good after that. Now, I'm gonna go over everybody's drill numbers so listen up. Katie Bell, F1. Alicia Spinnet, F2-"

I continued on through the entire band. It took a while. All I could think about was how next year was going to be so much better when I might have people that I could turn into section leaders. I couldn't wait for that day when I wouldn't have to do near as much work.

"Okay," I said once I got through all the drill numbers. "Everyone needs to take their highlighter now and go through their drill packet and highlight their number on every single page. This will make it easier to find your number at a quick glance. And then, while you do that, I've got to talk to the guard and pit."

Ron raised his hand.

"Yes Ron?"

"What was my number again?"

"Don't tell me you've forgotten it already."

"Sorry," he said quickly. "I didn't mean to."

I rolled my eyes. "For you and anyone else who forgets their number, my list is up here on the director's stand. You can look at it if you need to but don't be fighting over it or anything. I don't want that page destroyed in any way."

I let them move around and get settled then I gathered the guard in another corner of the room. I had been teaching an older Gryffindor girl some guard work during the day and she'd been working with the guard on it at night. Kind of like what I'd been doing with the Pit when the rest of the band was marching.

"Okay," I said. "What I want from you all is to come learn the drill with us next week. The week after, I will have a different practice time for you and you will learn all your work then. Then you will not need to be showing up to the rest of the band's practice. Does that sound good with everyone over here?"

They all nodded.

"Great. I'll leave you to start highlighting your drill as well."

So I left them and headed over to where the pit was sitting over by the marimbas and vibraphones and all the rest of the pit stuff. Since they didn't have drill, they'd sat patiently through the meeting but I could tell they were starting to get bored. I couldn't blame them for that though. If you weren't marching this would be a very boring meeting.

"Well then pit," I said. "You have been doing a fabulous job of working by yourself when I left you for marching basics. So, I think we can keep up with that. Percy, I am going to go ahead and name you Pit Section Leader. I know you basically already were but now it's official. But just come and talk with me at some point in the day and I'll tell you what you need to work on. Fair deal?"

"Yep."

"Great. Then I'm gonna go help the band. I don't think you guys need to be here anymore so you can go ahead and leave if you would like to do that."

"Thanks," they all said as they filed out of the room.

Turning my attention back to the band, I realized that chaos had broken out. Fred and George were having a sword fight with the highlighters on top of chairs. A few other people were drawing on themselves now that they realized that you could do that with highlighters. One girl even had bright pink highlights in her hair from the highlighters now. Some other people were scribbling all over whatever drill set the packet was open to. Then there was the Muggleborns who were sitting there looking at the rest of the people like they were crazy.

I gave up. I stuck my fingers in my mouth and whistled as loud as I could. It got everybody's attention.

"Hey ya'll! Focus! They are just highlighters! I just want you to mark the drill and then you can leave. So focus people! Focus!"

They all sat down and started to mark their drill. I think they were all ready to leave as well. I knew I was. This band was driving me crazy. It was fun but they were wild at times.

Fred Weasley looked at me. "Can we keep the highlighters?" he asked.

"No!" I shouted. There was no way I was giving up my highlighters to those boys. Never in a million years.

**Authors Note: Well, here's this chapter. What is exciting for me is the fact that in my marching band, we're starting drill tonight! The reason I choose F3 for my example number is because that's my drill number for this year! But anyway, I'm super excited at the moment!**

**~Hufflepuffcub999~**


	8. Drill Time!

**Disclaimer: No Harry Potter is owned by me.**

The band met out on the Quidditch field that night for the first rehearsal with drill. A scary thought. I had no idea how it was going to turn out honestly. Amy had told me that the Slytherclaw marching band had started drill the night before and she was afraid to even step foot on the Quidditch field with them ever again. They had been so awful at marching and drill that she wanted to run away and hide and not watch them. I just had to keep hoping that my band wouldn't be that bad.

It took them ten minutes to all assemble with their instruments out. Once they were all there though, I climbed up onto the drum major podium and yelled at them to pay attention.

"Alrighty everyone. Welcome to the first night of drill. Each of you should have your drill with you, your instrument, and a flip folio and lyre. All the music has been shrunk for your flip folio and is up here underneath the podium. One person from each section can come up and get the music and pass it out. Music will need to be memorized by the first time we perform at the first Quidditch match. So you have nearly two months. Everyone better have their music with them at the moment though because you need to mark your music according to the drill. Now, open your drill to the first set and go to your beginning position. This is where you start the show and is a very important position since it is the first set that people will see."

Slowly, I watched as everyone took their drill out and looked at the first page for _Under the Sea_. They all made their way around the field trying to find their location. Some of them got it right away. Others were wondering the field until I came over and helped them read the drill. Ron was one of these people.

"Ron?" I asked as I came over. "Would you like some help."

"No," he said stubbornly. "I can do this."

I watched as he walked over to a random yard line and pretended to be in his spot.

"Ron," I said. "You are nowhere near your real location."

He sighed. "Fine. Help me please."

"Okay," I looked at my drill. "You are on the forty-five. Two steps in back of the front hash."

Ron looked at me in amazement. "How did you figure that out so quickly?"

"Well, one, I wrote the drill. Two, it really isn't that hard. If you look closely at it, you can tell that you're right in between these two little lines here. Well, those little lines mean that there are red hashes there so you are right in between those two red hashes. And since one of those hash lines has a bold line on it on the yard line, it's one of the real hash marks. Make sense?"

Ron shook his head.

"Oh well. It'll come to you soon enough. Now go to your place."

"Okay," he said before wondering down the field to his location.

After I got Ron set, I was able to climb back up on the podium to look over the field and see how everyone looked. Overall, it didn't actually look that bad. I mean, there was a whole lot of spacing issues and a few people in completely wrong locations but for the most part, you could sort of see the beginning lines that they were supposed to be in. Sort of. It still needed a whole lot of work. I shouted for a few people to fix themselves and after I did that, it looked a little better.

"The next thing you all need to fix is pacing. You have to make sure you have the same amount of space on one side of you as you do the other. So please check and fix that."

A few people a crossed the field moved. At least some understood what I wanted. That was good. The others would get it with time I figured. I had a quick debate in my head wither I should move onto the next set or go ahead and make this one perfect. The fact that I wanted them all to start marching won and I had them take out their drill again.

"We will be standing fast for the first four measures of the song. A stand fast means that you don't move. You stand with your feet together and do not move. Then you have four measures to get to the next set spot. That means that you have sixteen counts or sixteen steps to get to where you are going. You will then adjust the step size accordingly. So, go ahead and make your way to chart two. Then we will run back to chart one and march the two sets from one to the next until you're comfortable and ready to move on. Now go."

Slowly and painfully, we made it through six whole sets. It was long though. It took three hours to get those six charts looking even remotely good. And we still had a long long long way to go. But at least the first six sets were done and they were finally starting to understand the drill. However, those three sets were not done without tears. A couple guard girls got so frustrated that they broke out crying. Lee Jordan had somehow managed to fall and nearly crushed himself by the sousaphone. Mind you, my first thought was for the sousaphone and then I thought about Lee. Also, Fred and George were still driving me crazy with glissandos every time thing on the field got "a little too quiet and so it was time to spice things up," as George put it. I think the glisses were finally getting on other peoples nerves too. Alicia Spinnet yelled at them for nearly five minutes straight to shut up. Surprisingly, they actually listened to her. Then everyone was tripping all over the place. Especially when some of them had to march backwards at six to five. I think about ten people fell over due to that. But I could understand that. Backwards marching is normally no fun.

After I let them go, Fred and George hung back to talk to me.

"So," Fred started. "We have a question for you."

"What?" I asked. I was hoping it wasn't something crazy.

"We were wondering if there was another way to drive people crazy with the trombone besides just glissandos because our lips are starting to go from doing so many of them."

I shook my head. "Uh-uh. I ain't tellin' you that."

"So there are other ways," George concluded.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because there weren't, you would tell us that straight out. So there has to be plenty of other ways."

"Well no matter what, I'm not telling you. Both of you drive me insane and I'm not giving you more reasons to drive me insane. Or is that something you don't understand?"

"No. We understand," Fred said.

"You know Fred," George said. "I think I have an idea to get her to tell us some stuff."

"And what would that be?" I asked.

George grinned and then picked me up and threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I gasped and then started pounding on his back. "Let me down!" I cried.

"Tell us."

"Never!"

George began spinning around in circles trying to make me dizzy. Well it worked great. I was never one for spinning around in circles like crazy. All too soon, I felt like I was going to throw up. "Let me down," I said again.

"You know what you have to do to let me put you down."

"Fine!" I cried. I just wanted down. I knew I was going to regret this though. But I had to quit spinning. "I'll show you if you let me down and give me the trombone."

George did as I said and Fred handed me his trombone. I took off the slide and handed Fred the mouthpiece and the bell. Then, I covered both ends, one where the mouthpiece goes and the other where the rest of the bell attaches, with my fingers. Then I ran the slide up and down to build up pressure. Then I jerked the slide off as quick as I could. A loud popping noise rang out. Fred and George looked excited.

"There you go," I told them. "Happy now?"

"Yes!" Fred cried taking his trombone slide back form me.

"Good. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go up and lay down. All that spinning didn't make me feel good." I said leaving the twins to play with their trombones out on the Quidditch pitch. I was really going to regret what I just showed them soon.

**Authors Note: And that would be the first bit of drill. Don't know what they're going to have next. Maybe I'll just skip to their first performance. What do ya'll think? Does that sound like an okay idea? On another note, I got back from my band camp on Friday and I am sooooo excited about this season! Our show is incredible! I love it soooooo much! 3**

**Thanks to c7a7t7, takepotatochipeatit, and winterwinds1234 for reviewing! :D**

**Hufflepuffcub999**


	9. Don't Use Instruments for Evil

**Disclaimer: No Harry Potter is owned by me.**

Day two of marching went a lot like the first day. Day three was a bit better. By day four, section rivalry was beginning to spring up. That could be considered a good thing or a bad thing. A good thing because it meant that each section was learning to work together as a team and it built loyalty. A bad thing because of little petty fights that end up breaking out. One particular one was between the trumpets and the trombones on this dramatic fourth day.

It was in the middle of a water break. Dean and Seamus were too busy trying to hit high notes than actually do what they were supposed to and go get water to drink. I was heading over to tell them to give their lips a rest and get some water. That too many high A's in a row would kill their lips. Especially since they'd still only been playing for a little over two months. Sure it had been every single day during those two months but they still couldn't spend all their time trying to hit the highest notes they could. As I got closer though, Fred and George came over to the two trumpets.

"So what are you doing over here?" Fred asked with a gleam of mischief in his eyes.

"High notes," Dean replied before hitting a perfect G and then up to a nearly perfect A. Unfortunately, he couldn't hold it for very long yet.

"Does that also mean loud? Because _we_," George said indicating himself and Fred, "can play loud."

"So?" Seamus said. "Loud doesn't necessarily mean good tone quality."

I had to smile at his comment. I'd been working with Dean and Seamus some and that was one thing I'd taught them. At least I knew that something had stuck in their minds.

"But loud means being heard. And if you play too softly, no one will care what you sound like since they can't hear you." George said.

"But we still play loud. Just not blasting loud," Dean said.

"But blasting loud is fun."

"It blows your lips quicker though," Seamus pointed out.

"So?" Fred asked.

"How about this," George started to say. "All the trombones on the field can play louder than all the trumpets. What do you think?"

"It's not possible," Dean said. The twins were starting to get to him.

"Wanna bet?"

"Fine," Dean said. "You're on. And trumpets will win."

"Trombones will."

"Trumpets."

"Trombones."

I rolled my eyes hoping that this wasn't going to turn out bad. I should have known better. But, I figured I should get it over with. I called the band to get back to set 13 where we had ended before a water break.

As we made our way through set 13 and 14 and after about fifteen more minutes, set 15, the bet between the twins and Dean and Seamus became more obvious. The other people in the sections got word of the bet and began playing their loudest. All too soon it was out of control. If they played any louder, something would end up broken. It also didn't help that since everyone was trying to play their absolute loudest, the marching abilities went way down. And don't even get me started on the tone quality of the trombones and trumpets.

"Stop!" I head someone scream. I looked over to the sound of the voice and saw Amy on the edge of the field. I was surprised at the sudden appearance of my twin. "That is _not_ how any of you were taught to play. And as the saying goes, _don't_ use your instruments for _evil._"

The field was silent. I turned to Amy. "What are you doing here?"

"Professor Dumbledore wants to talk to us quickly once your practice gets done. I figured that I should come and tell you while I know where you are."

"I see. And thank you for shutting them up."

"No problem. You could hear it all the way up at the castle. It just kept getting worse and worse. Do you always let them do that?"

"No. I'll explain everything to you later."

"Okay. I'll see you in Dumbledore's office after this."

"Yep, yep," I said. I watched Amy walk away and then I looked back to my band who was still pretty quiet. "Now, run it back and let's march and play that last set again. With _good _tone quality. Got it?"

The band ran back to the last set in response. Amy hadn't said much but she had gotten them back under control for me for the rest of the day at least.

xxxxx

I walked to Dumbledore's office before realizing that I had no password to get into his room. Luckily, as I was standing there, the statue started moving. It was as if they were waiting for me. And they were. When I got upstairs, Amy and Professor Dumbledore were both staring at me.

"Hi," I said not sure what was going on.

"Ah, good. You're here Izzy. Sit down. I just have a few questions for the two of you."

I looked at Amy who shrugged. She had no clue what was going on either. She'd just shown up like I had.

"So Izzy, how is your band coming along?"

"Good. For the most part."

Amy grinned. "Are you sure about that?"

"Shut up Amy," I told her. "What happened today was the beginning of section rivalry. And in my band, it's between the trombones and the trumpets."

"Oh. I do not envy you," Amy said.

"I know. Shall I quote the famous trumpet saying here?"

Amy and I grinned at each other. "Loud, Obnoxious, and Proud of it," we said together.

Professor Dumbledore looked at us. "Am I missing something here?"

"Probably," Amy said. "But back to why we're here." she paused for a moment. "Why _are_ we here?"

"I wanted to know, will your bands both be performing at Quidditch games or only one band? And is there going to be a competition for the bands at the end of the Quidditch season?"

"I defiantly want a competition," I said. "Mum and Dad can come out and judge it."

"Agreed," Amy said. "And I think it should probably be one band performs at each game. Because otherwise it'll end up taking too much time."

"Yeah. We can work out a schedule for that later. Probably alternate games," I added. "Anything else that you need us to know Professor?"

"One more thing, for your championship, would you like house points to be awarded."

"We can do that?"

"If I say so you can."

"Then yes!" Amy cried. "Let's do that."

"Alright. Sounds like a plan to me. I will let you girls get back to your dorms. I'm sure you have plenty of homework to do."

"I sure do," Amy mumbled. "I've spent too much time with drill and not enough time on homework."

"Don't worry sis," I said. "I've kinda got the same dilemma. Bye Professor Dumbledore."

"Good-bye girls."

Amy and I made our way out of Professor Dumbledore's office and then down to the Great Hall. I enjoyed getting to spend some time with my sister as we made our way down. We didn't get to talk as much anymore so getting to talk with her was nice. We got to joke around with each other like only sisters can too. Until we got to the Great Hall. Then we had to split up and go our separate ways.

**Well, there is the build-up of section rivalry. Always fun to write about. Hopefully you enjoy the first bit. The second part of this story isn't as important but I wanted that in there just so you all could know what they'll all be playing for. Please tell me what you think and whatever suggestions you have for me to improve my writing!**

**Another thing, I'm just realizing that I messed up a few chapters earlier. I had Fred and George on battery and then forgot and switched them to trombone. That's my fault for anyone who was confused. I don't know how I messed that up...Oh well. It seemed to work out for the better this way. If you would like me to, I can fix it so please tell me if you want it fixed. Otherwise I'm gonna be lazy and not edit it...**

**Also, big thanks to c7a7t7, Lupa Eira, and winterwinds1234 for reviewing! :D**

**Hufflepuffcub999**


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